A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing
by Shade Asylum
Summary: Two young girls meet in the woods one day. When their destiny's are changed by one attack what will become of them? Book/Musical/AU  Sorry, I suck at these summaries.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Umm, so I know I haven't finished my last story but I will. This is an idea that's just been haunting me lately though. I kinda have to get it off my mind and I hope it'll be a good outlet for some stuff that's going on with me right now. I hope you guys enjoy this. Reviews are always appreciated, especially constructive criticism.**

**Warnings: I don't own Wicked or any of the characters. This may become more graphic later as far as violence and sex, be warned.  
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I remember that night so perfectly. I suppose it's really my earliest discern able memory. Most of the others were so jagged and hardly made sense; looking back, maybe it was that I just didn't want to remember. That was when all of this started, at least, that's when my life started, and maybe for Galinda, that's when her's started as well.

I was alone and, though I wouldn't admit it then, I was terrified. The wind was blowing hard around me, causing the branches of so many trees to whip against me and bit into my skin. I'd found my way into this horrible forest, trying to escape yet another horde of those who saw my skin, not for what it was but what their feeble minds thought it meant. The small book I clutched to my chest was all I really had even if I'd never known where it came from.

I saw light ahead and heard something like giggling. It sounded so innocent and welcoming as I made my way towards it. I can't believe I'd never noticed the feeling of eyes on my back, or heard the crunching behind me, looking back, her laugh was so intoxicating, I couldn't censure my younger self for turning a blind eye to the instincts I would later come to depend on.

I saw her hair before anything else, such a striking blonde, even in the dark, her curls fell so gracefully in her face, meeting her gorgeous blue eyes. She was playing, and I hid behind a tree, feeling unworthy of her presence but still curious as to who she could be. I peeked around to see her making her way towards me, obviously no destination in mind. I shook slightly, and pulled back. I worried my lip, my heart beating with nerves so loud that no other sound mattered. When I turned to peek around the tree once more I was met with the same blue eyes that infatuated me so.

She giggled a quick "Hello," and smiled, and though I wouldn't realize it until much later, that was the moment I fell in love with Galinda Arduenna. She moved before me and overlooked all 4 feet of me, taking in my complexion, her smile faltered a bit as she realized something. She grabbed my arm so suddenly and pulled me from behind the tree that I had no choice but to follow her. When we were close enough to the edge of the small forest to suit her she looked me over again and her green returned.

"You're green," she laughed, "you're really green."

I wanted her to say more but I couldn't ask for that. Instead I just nodded and then she touched my arm again as if to make sure I was real. Nobody had ever seemed happy to see my skin before, and they'd never sink so low as to actually touch me but she did. I couldn't make myself smile, I knew if I did it would end, she'd be dragged away by her parents while they scowled at me. But it would end whether I smiled or not.

Her soft fingers moved from my arm, up to my shoulder, over my neck and then onto my cheek. I sighed comfortably, even if my body was tensed defensively I'd never felt so safe. It didn't last long. As I began to relax my stomach tightened of it's own accord. The small blonde's before me had too as the urging wind became less and less able to cover the ripping sound to the side of us. Galinda looked first and fell back, her face frozen in a scream that wouldn't follow quite yet. Although I don't remember moving, I was in front of Galinda as a black figure lunged for her. I saw the blood before I felt it, hell, Galinda finally screamed before I felt it.

My tunic was shredded and drenched in blood. From my left hip to my right shoulder was on fire and everything was white as if I stood before the sun itself. I couldn't shake off the pain but the monster hadn't attacked again so I pulled Galinda to her feet and farther out of the forest. I heard voices approaching and tried to rush towards them when I heard that growl again. My heart stopped and I pushed Galinda ahead of me only to feel the same sting of my chest on the small of my back as I was thrown to the ground and felt the weight of the creature on me before it dropped as a loud sound filled the night air, well, two, but only I heard the second crack and felt further fire shoot through my arm.

The coppery scent of blood filled my senses but not quite so much as the claustrophobia as I struggled under the weight of the beast. I gasped and shook crying out as I felt every injury I'd sustained battle for my attention. My arm was twisted at an awful angle, my back throbbed with the need to breath, and my torso drained tortuously slowly. I closed my eyes, sure that would be my end, I pressed the small book in my hand. A book of a faith I didn't even claim. Even then I wondered how it could be anymore than stories made up by idle minds, but it still gave me some comfort. Not that there was an afterlife or any sort of hope for me, but that I had something to die with. Someone would know who I was, someone would read the book, lift the first page and see in a messy scrawl _Elphaba_.

I suppose I'd thought I was dreaming when the warmth of the beast was lifted off of me. The voices over me didn't matter, well, one did. A worried little voice chimed "Please help her." A small smile finally reached my lips as I heard that. I couldn't help but enjoy someone wanting to help me. When someone tried to lift me up a spike of pain brought me to lucidity and I saw something peculiar. Through the pain I was able to take note of how brightly the full moon shone that night, at least, before everything faded to black.

One week. That's exactly how long I was unconscious before I awoke in a cold sweat in a bed I'd never been in before. No, scratch that, it was a bed, which I'd never been in before to the best of my knowledge. My chest and back ached slightly but it felt dulled somehow. I looked around the unfamiliar room, taking in the walls lined with books. I flinched as the light filtering in through a window met my eyes and I tried to block it with my arm but found a clunky white cast covering it. I poked at it curiously before the events of the night before came back to me. It seemed like a ghost of the pain I'd suffered shot through my injuries as I remembered what had happened that night. I'd accepted the suffering well, but one thing haunted me. That girl, the blonde, she couldn't have been real. I couldn't ever hope to deserve to be in her presence.

I slipped from the unfamiliar bed and noticed the pink nightshirt that fell just barely past my calves. I let out a small groan as I remembered what happened to my only tunic. I grasped the fabric on me between my thumb and forefinger and yes, it felt nice, but it wasn't familiar. I dropped the fabric and moved to the door in the middle of two book-laden walls. I opened it as quietly as I could and peeked in to the hall. I stepped out and was going to continue to search before a boy, a bit older than me saw me. He held my eye for a moment, full of surprise. It almost slipped my mind that I was green, but as I remembered I opened my mouth to apologize for my appearance but before the words could escape he left.

I groaned again, certain I was going to end up in trouble when the boy returned with a woman. Was she his mother? She had shockingly blue eyes and pin straight blonde hair pulled into a tight bun. She knew whose mother she was as she saw the eyes. But it didn't seem to this boys.

"I-I'm sorry ma'am," I mumbled to the woman.

The woman's surprise dissolved into a look of amusement, "For what, dear?"

I was so used to apologizing for my appearance that usually everyone just accepted it, "For intruding on your home."

"Dear, there's no intrusion, if anything I owe you." she smiled and approached me.

I was confused, "What did I do ma'am?"

"Young lady you saved my daughters life," she smiled and knee led before me and grabbed my sealed arm without any hesitation. She turned to the boy who had been waiting patiently "Go fetch Galinda, she'll want to know our guest is awake. And bring more milkweed, it should be easier to aid this young lady now that she can chew it."

I blushed as the woman held her hand, the girl was real? I couldn't help but smile at that but as the woman turned back around it melted, "I-I didn't. I j-just got in that m-monsters way."

The woman laughed "My family is still indebted to you."

As she said that the bubbly blonde turned the corner, the older boy in tow. In his hand was a bag and some small stocks of a green plant. He leaned against the wall as the blonde came forward and grinned at me again before hugging me. I gasped as I felt the girl on my chest and her hands on my back.

The small blonde jumped back and worried her lip anxiously. Her mother patted her shoulder as she mumbled "Careful, sweetie."

I felt bad and leaned forward, nervously, lifting my unharmed arm and placed it around the girls shoulder. I relaxed but leaned back quickly dropping my arm. That was the beginning of my story, our story. It all seemed so innocent, yes, unorthodox, but the results were far from what anybody could expect. It wouldn't take very long before I'd realize how much more was going to change.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: So, I can't promise I'll always update this quickly but yeah. I hope you guys enjoy. Thanks to the people who've read the first chapter and anybody who reviews either. Reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated.**

**Warnings: I don't own Wicked or any of the characters. This may become more graphic later as far as violence and sex, be warned.**

The Uppland's welcomed me into their home, graciously. Galinda seemed to have taken a liking to me and although it was more attention, rather, more positive attention that I'd been used to, I somewhat enjoyed it. The little girl would drag me around the large estate, from my makeshift room in the library to her's clad in pink. I had noticed that any of her attempts to lead me outside always lead to a new suggestion, usually involving them staying in doors. Eventually I was able to get out of Galinda's pink nightgown and into some of the boy from the hallways old clothes that no longer fit. It was much more comfortable to me.

The boy, I'd discovered his name was Avaric, was a family friend of the Uppland's, come to spend his summer working on their farm, supposedly it was because his father knew his own farmhands would treat the boy as the prince that he was. That's sort of what he and Galinda were, royalty. Galinda's and Avaric's great grandparents had built up farming empires who's products were shipped from the Gillikin all over Oz. One day they'd live glamorous lives.

Galinda pushed me on her bed and started digging in a small chest. She pulled out a brush and some barrettes before sitting on the bed behind me. I flinched when she started touching my hair but relaxed as she started brushing, until she reached the knots.

"Elphaba, don't you brush your hair every night?" it was an innocent question, she'd started asking them as soon as her mother and Avaric had left the first day.

"Uh, no, not really." she stopped for a moment but continued.

As she continued it became easier and smoother, I was aware of the twigs and rubble falling from my hair, "Didn't you're momsie ever help you, or at least tell you how? You're supposed to brush it a hundred times every night if you want it to grow long."

I shrugged, "I never met my mother." I'd never much cared for my hair anyway.

"Oh," was all that I got as she continued playing with my hair. Soon the brush was gone and was replaced with her fingers. We sat in silence for a while until I felt the twinge of my injuries. She noticed me wince before leaving me with a promise of returning with my milkweed.

I slid off of her bed and moved slowly around the room. Her large white dresser was covered with unopened makeups and perfumes and more hairbrushes. The large mirror against the wall reflected me clearly, I was a bit surprised. I'd never seen my hair so neatly before. It framed my face and fell to just below my jaw. I leaned in closer, my hazel eyes taking in more than the green skin that they'd grown so accustomed to censuring. I might have continued looking in the mirror had I not seen a bit of pink motion in it. I turned to see Galinda smiling at me, she skipped forward with the leaves in hand. I took them gratefully and bit off a few leaves.

"So, Elphaba how old are you?" She asked playing with my hair again, although now that I was standing she had to stretch a bit.

I thought for a second before I realized how little I'd cared before, "I don't know."

"Well, you're almost Avaric's height," she thought for a moment, "and he's nine. So maybe you're eight?"

It sounded reasonable enough for me so I nodded and turned to look at the girl, taking another bite of my leaves. "How about you?"

Her grin was huge as she responded "Six and a half."

That, somehow, prompted another change of subject as the girl went back to her chest and pulled out something in a white cloth. She handed it to me and prompted me to open it. I did so and found my bible. I hadn't even thought about it. A week ago it would have never left my side but, now, it seemed much less important.

"Popsicle said that it's an onionist bible," I couldn't help but grin slightly at the girls mistake.

"Unionist." I corrected.

She shrugged and moved closer to me to look at it "He said their weren't many unionists in Gillikin, mostly Lurlinist's like us."

"I'm not unionist." she covered the book once more and took her eyes away from it to look back at the girl. The blonde only smiled and dragged her to their next venture. Elphaba couldn't help but smile, enjoying how innocent and happy the girl seemed to be.

That night I sat down to dinner. A large table covered with more food than I'd ever imagined myself being able to eat in a lifetime sat before me. Mister and Misses Uppland sat beside each other and had begun serving themselves as I looked around. This was what they were used to, eating like kings every night. Even Avaric seemed bored as he pulled a plate of meat towards him and cut himself a few slices. I turned to see Galinda watching me, the food on her plate hardly touched. She gestured to the food and I shrugged. I'd have preferred to not eat than to make a full of myself and gorge myself on their food. That was when Mrs. Uppland spoke up, "Elphaba, dear, aren't you going to eat?"

"Um, I, wouldn't want to take from your family, ma'am."

"Nonsense, after what you did we owe you. The least we could offer is a good meal. Here," the woman stood up and came around the table and began spooning things onto my plate and slicing different meats.

"Th-thank you ma'am." She smiled and sat down.

Her husband picked up from there, "So, Miss Elphaba, what was so young a girl as yourself doing in a forest at night?" It was less accusing than actually curious.

"I'm a, well, traveler I suppose you could say. I found myself lost in the forest and was lead to the edge by what I presume was the light of your home."

The couple nodded, understanding my phrasing, and Mrs. Uppland spoke again "So, when we found you you seemed to have a bible in your hands. It's odd to see a unionist so far into the Gillikin."

"She's not unionist Momsie," Galinda piped in knowingly.

Her father quirked an eyebrow "You aren't? Then what, may we ask, are you?"

This question usually got me in more trouble than my skin "I'm, er," I squirmed slightly, "I'm not practicing any particular religion."

"Doesn't shock me much." Avaric finally intoned.

Both adults tossed him shocked looks. Mister Uppland looked as if he were about to say something when I beat him to it, "It usually doesn't, shock people, I mean. It's hard to have a Sunday best when everything clashes with green skin."

Everyone let out a relieved chuckle but Mister Uppland gave Avaric a look that even I could read as "this isn't over."

Dinner continued in a similar fashion of the family questioning me while Avaric looked at his food in boredom. I ate more heartily than I'd ever imagined myself and eventually the conversation moved from me. I listened in, until Galinda drew my attention and continued her questioning.

When dinner was over Galinda begged her mother to allow her to walk me to my room. Misses Uppland seemed as surprised as me at the sound of that, but it melted into acceptance. She walked us both to the library and I sat down nervously on the bed, still feeling out of place. Galinda hugged me once more and trotted off to her room. Miss Uppland pulled a chair next to the small cot I'd woken up on.

"Dear, I realize that you must not come from the best situation, but I would be very appreciative if you'd continue staying in this one. My husband and I are always worried about Galinda, and she seems to have become very attached to you. I hope you won't let Avaric's behavior influence your decision."

"Um, what decision ma'am?" I was a bit tired, I felt as if I'd missed something.

She smiled and reached forward to touch my hair, "Will you stay with us and watch over my daughter?"

I couldn't think for a moment. Somebody had actually wanted me around. No, more than just her, her family wanted me. I chewed my lip nervously, unsure of what expression crossed my face. Rather than trying to speak I nodded. Misses Uppland pulled me into a gently hug, avoiding my injuries. She smiled and wished me a good night before leaving me in the book-filled room. My room?

I didn't realize it then of course, that was my first, and one of my last normal memories. In the time that would come, and it came quickly, all I could hope for would be a pseudo normalcy surrounded by pain, physical, emotional, and mental, and far more than I'd ever imagine myself getting into. My time started ticking away the moment I met Galinda.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So, I've been writing this when I should be paying attention in class. Hope you enjoy =]. Thanks you guys who read and especially those who reviewed the last couple chapters. I hope you all enjoy.**

**Warnings: I don't own Wicked or any of the characters. This may become more graphic later as far as violence and sex, be warned.**

I suppose I'd expected joining the Uppland's family would be easy. They certainly tried to make it so. Mt. Uppland took me on a tour of his farm. He mostly had hired hands to raise and handle his sheep but he aided every so often. When I offered to help he told me I had my own tasks to take care of. He promised to take me to the Uppland textiles factory.

Mrs. Uppland took me into a nearby town to find some clothes. She claimed Avaric's clothing hardly suited me but didn't question my preference of pants and tunics. While Galinda would make faces Mrs. Uppland would only shrug at my choices.

"Um how about these?" I asked holding up the black work boots.

The small blonde scrunched up her nose silently while her mother shrugged "If that's what you like dear. Maybe you'd like a few more tights and a coat?"

Galinda had been hoping to dress me up like a doll. She was disappointed that I had no interest in dresses or hair accessories but made up for it by dressing up the library. Mrs. Uppland offered me the room that Avaric would be leaving behind in the coming months, so until then Galinda found things to stock the room with. I didn't need much but she insisted on a chest to contain my few belongings until I could move into the room.

Galinda was the most welcoming. She continued dragging me around the house on her adventures and playing with my hair. As my wounds healed I became more capable of playing with her. She enjoyed playing imaginative games, those that usually involved vast and wonderful landscapes that came so easily to her vision but left me wondering how a box could be a castle or how her bed a ship. She claimed I was so smart but I hardly felt it when I could miss the point of simple games like tag.

One of the most difficult parts of adapting to this new life was the worry that it could be ripped away at any time; I hardly belonged with this family. I wondered how long it would be before they realized that. One day someone would ask, "Aren't you afraid that green thing will infect your daughter?" When that day came they would look at me and be disgusted. Even though I didn't realize it then, I had far more trouble awaiting me.

The first month came and went but one peculiar change bothered me. The moon was so large and full when Galinda came to my room. She giggled silently in her nightgown and drew me out of my bed. She looped her arm through my bandaged one and took me to her room. We sat on the small seat by her window and she opened it. The small girl leaned out of the window and took a deep breath. I couldn't help but worriedly grab her arm and pull her back in.

She giggled "Isn't it pretty, Elphaba?" I mumbled a silent, "Huh," as I took my eyes off of her and followed her line of sight to the full moon overhead. I lifted my hand unconsciously as I stared at it but I stopped myself and dropped it on the the windowsill. I felt my shoulders slacken slightly but at the same time my muscles tensed. I lost focus on the conversation until Galinda waved her small hand in my face. She gave me an odd look before grinning, "Cover your eyes." She shoved my sealed arm into my eyes and mumbled "don't peek."

I waited in the silence, only hearing the padding of Galinda's feet on the floor. Soon it was accompanied by a slight ruffling. I felt something on my lap. She pulled my arm down and I looked to the package and saw it was wrapped in brown paper. I unwrapped it carefully, to Galinda's dismay, and pushed the paper aside to see a silver buckle with an E engraved on it on a black messenger bag. I felt the suede beneath my fingers and as they met the steel they were first greeted by the cold I expected but as I left them there they slowly began to feel warmed by the metal. The longer I allowed the contact to continue the warmer it got until eventually it began to sting. I didn't move my hand until Galinda made a small noise and I looked up to see her worried expression.

"Momsie and I thought you'd like it to carry your bible and things," she sounded worried, maybe even hurt.

I didn't know how to respond, I just hoped that if I did it honestly she would cheer her up, "I, er, never had anything this nice."

"Does that mean you like it?" The joy in her question was hesitant but it was there.

The words came out as more of a sigh of relief, even a bit of disbelief, "Yes."

The small girl stuck her legs back out of the window to continue discussing the night sky and the stars with me. We sat that way for quite a while. She leaned against the window frame at first, swinging her legs out the window as I jumped at every motion she made forward, and eventually as her eyelids dipped slightly I pulled her in and we fell asleep together on the sill.

}{

The next four months were mostly the same. I grew comfortable living with the Upplands, I even started to feel like a part of the family. It helped that Avaric returned home, although I felt bad for taking his room. When Galinda's tutor began coming the Upplands thought it would be a good idea to include me on her lessons, but the tutor grew frustrated with me easily. While Galinda struggled with her subjects the tutor would scold me for reading ahead of lessons and even for aiding Galinda, claiming I would teach her incorrectly. Soon enough the tutor just left me more advanced copies of textbooks.

That was the closest I'd felt to a normal home, but each month carried me farther and farther away from that normalcy. Each full moon brought the same tension in my muscles and a bit of frustration that grew into anger that I feared I'd let loose on Galinda. The worst was the fifth month.

A blue moon is when two moons fall in the same monthly cycle. The first time I read that, in a science textbook, I'd stored it away as a random fact, but one day I would learn how crucial that was to my very being. The first full moon wasn't bad, but I'd learn that it usually wasn't. After that I started getting sick. First came the fever. I felt cold but Mrs. Uppland would develop a worried expression every time she'd come to my room to brush my hair from my face and check on me. The doctor was uncertain as to what may have happened to me, it concerned him, especially since the more my wounds healed the sicker I became. After that came the migraines. Every sounds, and I heard much more than I thought I should, racked my brain painfully. God forbid I smelled anything.

I spent the fifth month cowering beneath my blankets. I could tell Galinda stood in my doorway by the hopeful approach of her footsteps as she walked toward my room. Her breathing, so even when she arrived, would always slow when she saw the blankets over my head. The dejected steps that carried her away would always break my heart a bit.

It only got worse until one night it stopped completely. I slid out of my bed,and although my eyes dropped, I felt as if I could see as clearly as if it were broad daylight, but I wasn't sure what I saw. I was following something, it lead me through what had become my home. I reached my destination, where my "vision" became the strongest. I looked through my half-lidded eyes and saw pink, shaded by the darkness of the night. The bed was before me, and spread haphazardly across it was the small girl I'd grown so fond of. I moved to the side of the bed and looked her over. She looked so innocent as I lifted my hand and reached to brush her hair from her face. When I saw my green skin hover over her alabaster skin I pulled it back. As I did she rolled over and opened her eyes slightly.

"Elphaba?" she groaned slightly as she clung loosely to the pink comforter, her voice was tinted with sleep as well as happiness.

"Yeah," I smiled at her slightly.

She sat up and wrapped her arms around my waist. "I'm glad you're better."

My heart beat picked up slightly as I hugged her back awkwardly, still not used to the small show of affection. She stood up, rubbing her eyes and pulled me towards the window again

I covered my eyes instinctively with my now healed arm to protect them from the bright light. It was lighter than the other and it was even more so when bleached by the moonlight as I lowered it. Then I looked up to see the grand shape. I felt Galinda's soft curls fall against my chest when my muscles quicker and more painfully than they had before.

"Are you okay, Elphaba?" the worry in her voice was barely audible but it was there.

"Mhum," I said through my teeth, hoping to filter out the pain.

"You're getting warm again, Elphie," she couldn't even finish my name as her muscles relaxed so completely and I carried her back to her bed.

As I tucked her back in, my hands shaking slightly from the strain it took me to move, she illicit ed a small snore, and my head throbbed at the sound. I moved to the window and opened it slowly to stick my head out. The cold air felt good as I began to sweat but still felt the ache in my muscles growing and spread to my bones. I clenched my jaw and closed my eyes. I could smell everything in the air, especially the grass. I felt an odd draw towards the grass.

When I opened my eyes I was outside. I was so confused. I turned to see the open window above me. I wondered if I'd jumped but it seemed so impossible. I flushed a shade of green to match the grass beneath me as the pain and heat stirred once more and I remembered my earlier urge.

I fell to my hands and knees, in a combination of pain and an animalistic urge. I gripped the grass beneath my long thin fingers. My chest and back, where I knew puckered red lines still existed, burned as if they'd been set on fire. My eyes watered and my teeth ground together, closing off any hope of crying out for help. I doubted it could get any worse but then my spine was ablaze if felt as if it were growing longer and my arms and legs turned in a way that I knew they never should. An ache spread from where I knew my arm had broken but that was the least of my worries. Soon the pain was overwhelming as my vision went white and I wasn't able to move to ease any of the pain, at least not of my own accord. My clothes stretched to their limits but never tore.

I couldn't tell one pain from another. Everything raged for what seemed like hours. The smallest tooth to the length of my spine contorted in the most painful manner. If I could see what was happening to me I wouldn't believe that it hadn't involved any sort of fire or the loss of flesh.

All at once the pain stopped and I didn't dare move, afraid the the pain would return. Time eased to a standstill as my heart pounded violently in my chest. The first motion was a shift of my ears, but it was a motion that shouldn't have been possible. The sound of the sleeping sheep in the stables at my left, and my ears turned toward the stables on their own. The muscles moved as if they were familiar with the motion but I knew they weren't. I turned my head slowly, the ground seemed closer than normal but I didn't want to stand up completely. Instead I tried to get back on my knees but I couldn't and didn't know why my legs wouldn't obey. There was that noise again, but I resisted my urge to go towards it, even as the scent that the wind carried on it tried to draw me towards the stables once more.

I turned towards the house and crawled to the door, hoping to get in and return to my room. I tried to stand up and as I did, the heart that, moments ago, was beating out of my chest, stopped. When I reached the knob I expected to see a green hand, but in it's place was a black paw. I fell back and rolled on the grass onto my back and looked down. My pajamas were still there but they didn't fit as they should have. Out of the legs were two more paws similar to the one that replaced my hand, and beyond that a mass of black fur curled between my legs. A high pitched whine came from somewhere and with a shock I realized I'd made the sound. I'd thought it would be my green skin would be the thing to get me removed from the presence of the Uppland's home but suddenly much worse reasons came to mind.


End file.
